a strawberry's innocence
by walkerkyuubiluva
Summary: Without a clue who he is or even his name, our favorite carrot top substitute shinigami is banished to a world filled demons and a growing holy war... but not quite in a way you would expect. rated "T" just to be safe from swordplay.
1. Chapter 1

it's me walkerkyuubiluva! this is my first fanfiction so please don't flame on me! so basically ichigo loses his memory and is sent to the dgm world. read and review! enjoy!

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My head hit the ground with a sickening crack as I fell into the warm tendrils of unconsciousness. Blackness surrounded me and I felt nothingness in every fibre of my body.

But, wait. who was I? I struggled to remember even why I was here in the first place. My musings were suddenly stopped as I felt a strong call beyond the black. The call became a small tug and then grew to a strong pull towards who knows pull intensified and my battered body was spat out into the other side of my empty imprisonment. I found myself in a familiar city with tall skyscrapers reflecting a bright, blue, cloudless sky. The buildings shined and looked as though they held the very sky in it's place. At the same time the bright sky appeared to pull the buildings even higher into it's blue embrace. As I took in my surroundings, the sky began to turn dark with swirling clouds, a brewing maelstrom could be recognized even by my somewhat lacking memory. The very city looked as though it was rejecting itself. The once tall, shining buildings began to dull and crumble with a sound like thunder. Through the wreckage an annoying familiar presence made itself known and an itching feeling crept into my head. His silhouette became visible and a finally got a good look at possibly my only guide to this madness. A teenager with snow white skin and bleached hair wearing some type of white baggy uniform made his way towards me.

"hey do you know where we are?" I asked the boy.

His reply was a malicious smile and the phrase,"don't you know kingy?"

Before I could blink he was right in front of me and white hot pain exploded in my abdomen. "hey kingy, I told you never to lose that instinct," he snarled. I looked down, only to see his white sword run straight through my stomach. The world began to swirl and tip as he yanked his sword out, enjoying the agonized expression I wore. "I'm going to send you somewhere where you'll understand what it's like to be caged," but what he said didn't make any sense. caged? Who was I? What had I done to this person?

I was falling again but I barely made out a voice crying, I heard a name, "Ichigo". Was that my name? I looked up through the pain to see a man with brown hair in a black cloak billowing in the increasing stormy winds sadly looking down on me. "I cannot help you this time, this fight is your own. Power will come if you truly fight for it."Why is this happening? Since when did I need power? I don't have anything to thoughts were put to rest as I fell into a pool of my own blood and began to fade into a shadowed shell of who I thought I was.

The blood began to swirl and gather beneath me swirling toward the center as it lit up with a black flame. The flames pulled me deeper until I realized that wherever this was sending me, it must not be good. All too quickly I found out resistance wasn't an option, so I did the only thing I could do and let the portal swallow me as the flames licked at my very I awoke I found myself in what looked like a hole. I tried moving only to find out the body I had in the other world seemed to have shrunk in size and gone back in years. Panicking, I scrambled out and stared at what looked to be a young boy with long, dark hair. "Che", was all he said as he backed up and observed me from a distance. Another boy walked up with a broad smile,"you'll have to excuse Yuu, he's nice when you get to know him. My name's Alma by the way."As they helped me out of the hole, I gazed around only to find dozens more of these holes around in this huge room. The short haired boy with the smile began to ask, "so what's your name?"The question took me by surprise. I didn't know who I was, where I was, or what I was even doing here. I thought hard, I remember hearing the cloaked man from the city call me Ichigo, but I if could remember right ichigo meant strawberry and I did not want to be remembered as a strawberry wherever the heck I was. I remembered the white haired teen and a memory tickled the back of my mind"shiro" I replied, if I was in a new place I night as well have a new name."well shiro," the boy replied, "welcome the second exorcist program."

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how was it? terrible right? :P ah well... if you like it please review! if i get even three good reviews i'll continue the story. ciao for now!


	2. Chapter 2: revelation of power

**Hello my readers! It completely slipped my mind to do a disclaimer so here it is! I do not own d. gray man or bleach. sorry it took so long to update :P but here's chapter 2!**

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To say I was confused would be the biggest understatement of the history of the universe.

I arrived from the crumbling city to meet two boys whom I soon found to be my only comfort in all of the madness around my messed up memories. Alma reassured me that my memory would come back possibly after the "innocence training", whatever that was.

The one thing that caught me was the more time I spent with my new friends the more I didn't want to remember my old life. I wanted to keep this clean slate and make a new life for myself.

My thoughts were interrupted as the great doors in our room opened to reveal several tall men making their way over to me. A blonde man in a beret kneeled down and smiled, "you must be scared, but don't worry, I won't hurt you".

"I'm not scared!" came my reply though my voice betrayed how I really felt.

"oh really now?" came the man's reply. "My name's Bak, what name have you chosen for yourself?"

"Shiro," was my meek reply. I still didn't feel comfortable around these men because I knew I was a teenager in the collapsing city but now my body was that of a little boy, I felt powerless.

Bak began to explain where I was and how I had been brought back to life to fight akuma. The thought of trapped souls horrified me for some odd reason and my mind flashed back to the boy with the bleached hair.

A new image invaded my memory, a bone white mask with red streak marks, emanating with dark power.

These glimpses of my memory burned in my head and immense pain spread like wildfire in my veins. I grasped my head and screamed, collapsing onto the floor. Bak rushed up to see what was wrong and as soon as I looked up, the expression on his face changed from worry to utter shock. Alma and Kanda rushed up to see what exactly was going on. Alma gasped and kanda's eyes widened slightly.

"What's going on? Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked.

I got no response as Bak quickly scooped me up and brought me out of the room.

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**how was it? I know it's really short but chap. 3 will be up soon, no flames please, but constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3: explanation

**Here's chapter 3! As usual i do not own D. gray man or bleach.**

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"Please," I begged again, "where are you taking me?"

No answer came from Bak as he ran through the halls. I tried to memorize all the turns but quickly gave up as the hallways became more and more like a labyrinth. Dragging me deeper into the underworld this place would soon become.

Bak brought me into a dark room and soon a bright light shone on me and i barely could make out the shapes of some sort of council.

"Why have you brought this new experiment to us so soon?" A deep, demanding voice rang out in the dim room.

"There was a new… development," Bak answered, looking at my face.

"what's going on?" I pleaded, "I don't know what you're talking about!"

Bak completely ignored my protests and continued to report

"The newly attached memories seem to be exerting energy reminiscent of akuma, this new energy turned his eyes black with golden, noah-like irises."

The head councilman's eyebrows shot up at this. "Noah? In that case, take him immediately to innocence training, we may have just found our ace to win this war."

I pondered all of this. What was a Noah? Black eyes? Golden irises? It all made no sense. The image of the pale boy with white hair once again made its way into my head and deep down I knew this was all his fault.

We arrived at grand oaken doors carved with angels and other ethereal beings twisting around each other.

The doors opened to what would become my hell on earth.

(back in the council room)  
"I told you that this experiment would go haywire!" one councilman shouted at the head of the operation. Other murmurs spread through the room as if the entire place would come crashing down on their mistake.

"ENOUGH!" the head councilman shouted, "you all knew the risks, attaching the soul of a heavenly warrior to a new body was bound to have some… complications".

With the new experiment on everyone's minds, a smile couldn't help itself creeping onto their faces.

Yes, this was going to be interesting indeed.


	4. Chapter 4: innocence training

**Author's note: Holy crap, I'm so sorry for not updating! I've had a lot on my plate lately because my grandma's cancer came back with a vengeance, my parents had a bad fight, high school sucks, and I've been lacking in writing time. But fear not! I shall not abandon my story or let down my readers. On a different note, thank you to all who read and reviewed! I agree that the last chapters were short, but i didn't really know how to fit them together or make them longer. also, about Ichigo's innocence, I'm going to completely trow you guys for a loop and do something utterly different. suffer! lol, jk, enjoy the latest installment of _A Strawberry's Innocence!_**

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Pain.  
It poured through my veins like liquid fire, threatening to consume me. My throat bled from screaming but the pain didn't end.

This, my friends was innocence training.

(flashback)

As they brought me into the training room, a new scientist burst through the doors wearing the creepiest headdress with odd face paint and a white robe overtop of the exorcist's uniform. He violently shooed away the other workers as the grand doors slowly closed. I began to feel Slightly nervous and rather suspicious while looking at the doctor's strange uniform. It was like my danger alarm was blaring at a 10 and decided to destroy the "off" switch the moment I stepped in the room.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the scientist began, "my name is Kurotsuchi Mayuri, and i'll be _overseeing_ your innocence training."

The scientist gave a slightly crazed smile that sent a shiver down my spine and gestured to the center of the room. Out of the floor, a small marble column rose, drawing my eyes to the strange beauty of the object resting on top, cushioned in a scarlet silk pillow. It was the most beautiful shining crystal I could have ever imagined, throwing beams of soft, pure light into the darkened room.

The light beckoned, pulling you in with a feeling of security and protection.

I was so lost in thought that I was startled when Kurotsuchi cleared his throat and began an explanation. "this innocence belonged to a great exorcist long ago, his name has been forgotten in this realm, but stories of his legendary power never say he was a mix of many different worlds, wielding the most powerful sword known to man, but it was the raw power of the warrior that brought him to fame. He spent his entire life fighting to find which realm he truly belonged in."

This realm? Are there other realms?  
"what does this have to do with me?" I asked, "what could I have to do with legendary power?"

I asked, because frankly, the scientist scared the crap out of me, and what's worse is that he seems familiar to me. I can tell he knows more than he's letting off.

Kurotsuchi answered in a deep exited tone, "my dear boy, this innocence once belonged to you."

I was shocked. only today had i found myself in this place with Alma and Kanda, and now this clown-faced weirdo is tellling me that i'm a long dead wanderor with a sword. "how could I have had this innocence if I was just born?" it all made no sense.

"created, not born." the scientist quickly interjected and began to explain, "you see, the millennium Earl is making akuma faster than we train exorcists to fight them. We may have found a way to combat them, we take old exorcists' minds and try to re-animate them to use their innocence. Isn't it glorious? We'll bring in a new era of war using you, and if you can't synchronize we'll use your little... _friends_ Kanda and Alma."

This statement enraged me, how dare he bring them into his crazed schemes! He's done enough.

Wait... enough?

I've just met this man and yet it feels as though... As though we've met before.  
Whatever... I couldn't let this man hurt my new friends, they're all that I have.

Seeing the expression on my tiny face turn to rage, he countered, "However, I have something extra special planned for you." he chuckled darkly, pulling out a small remote and pressing a black button.

Another platform rose on the other side of the room, only this time the object was covered with a thick glass case.

This other case contained a set of 10 charred bone masks varying in decoration and size. there was a broken helmet, a piece of a jawbone, and even a head piece that looked like a broken ram's skull. They were only partial masks but there was one more in front, a clean, full, white mask with red brushstrokes around the eye.

As soon as these masks were visible, something deep within me snapped; my heart started beating painfully against my chest, my breathing became labored almost, as though there was a heavy presence in the atmosphere and a hole was trying to tear itself open in my chest. memories of two different landscapes flashed before my eyes; one was a white-walled city, and the other was a moonlit desert. neither of the memories contained any people, but the landscaped alone brought even more pain to my troubled mind.

Seeing my pain, the scientist gave a face-splitting grin and explained, "we've been researching the earl's dark matter as well as our innocence. These masks are the rarest form we've ever encountered of any type of dark matter, they are also the most powerful. We've seen this power consume hundreds of souls, leveling cities for the sole purpose of hunger. The council believes you have the potential to use powers such as these because of your possible Noah side."

At this point, the scientist's face became even more crazed and the atmosphere became overwhelmingly heavy as he continued, "they are fools! you have a power so much greater, and so muck darker. The Earl himself would quake in his boots if he were to glimpse the power of the creature you could become!"

"you're lying!" I screamed, "I'll never be a monster!"

"Wrong again," he Interjected,

...

"You already are a monster"

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How was it? read and review please! if you do not review, i'll send an evil plot bunny to consume your mind and nag you about it until you review. Until next chapter,

Walkerkyuubiluva


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello! My greatest apologies for the suuuuuuper long delay in chapter updates. Basically, my grandma died of cancer, then my grades started to fall, and i had a crapload of finals, and then... I kinda forgot about the story (I'm sorry! don't kill me! T.T) things are peachy in Minnesota now, so i'll update more often, enjoy! OH! one more thing, I've got a surprise at the end of this chapter, leave your answer in a review or private message!**

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Chapter 5

When the scientist opened the glass case, all hell broke loose.

A hole ripped itself open in my chest as the dark energy exploded from the case. The different mask fragments began to liquify and fly over to me, being absorbed into my body. The full mask attached itself to my face, flooding my mind with the pure instinctual desire to fight and the overwhelming power to feed that desire. The dark desire came off as pure black energy traveling off of my body in waves, making me want to laugh as I crushed Kurosutchi like the ant he is. Only, the pain was too great and all I could let out was a choked scream. The innocence flew over as well, sending out veins of white energy to try and overpower the liquified masks, now pouring from my eyes and the gaping hole In my chest. These pure white icy veins moved like tentacles, creeping their way up my body, through the hole in my chest and forcing their way into my mouth, down my screaming throat.

The two power sources fought for dominance over my body. I could barely scream as my entire body was filled with pain. The dark matter burned like the very foundation of hell had become my skin and the combating innocence tried its hardest to freeze my hell over.

The few moments spent with this power felt like an eternity until I could see the grand doors open up a crack. Light spilled across the room, illuminating my battered, war-torn form. Just as Alma and Kanda's heads became visible through the door, they flashed in front of my struggling form with the scientist pressing a long sword at their throats.

"Shiro! Are you ok? What's going on?" Alma shouted. Kanda said nothing, but his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and his features portrayed total shock.

"silence, _brats_," the scientist spat out. He turned to me with a venomous smile, "my my, we've got a predicament here. If you don't do well in this experiment, I'm going to have to use these other creatures like you as a substitute. You wouldn't like that, would you Shiro? Or should I say... Ichigo Kurosaki?"

That final question pushed my power over the edge. With the swirling power sources around me I tried to land some sort of blow on this _monster_. It was no use. The scientist seemed to simply disappear each time I came within striking distance and reappear in another spot. My punches became faster and more frantic as time continued. It couldn't be like this! I wouldn't let him take them!

However, as I fought, my body was so battered and abused that the pain became far too much. As I wildly threw another punch I collapsed onto the floor. My wrist making a painful /snap/ as I made my decent. I began to cough up blood on the floor from where I lay. Why won't anyone help me? I can't let him take my only friends. I can't... but how can I? I can't hold on any longer... Damn it... Hold... on... It Hurts... so... Exhausted. I finally passed out in puddle of my own blood, the innocence and dark matter retiring to their original forms with a clatter on the hard ground.

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I let out another sigh at Alma's crazy antics. After passing out my first time "training", I was taken back to my hole and allowed to recover. It's been almost 3 months since that time and I've been training every day since. Not just training to be compatible with innocence, but also dark matter. Sadly, none of the other scientists know about. or can save me from the dark matter. When I'm done being battered by that stupid, feather-sprouting crystal, I'm whisked away by the one and only creepy Kurosutchi into a dark room to try and get the stupid masks to give me their power. Day in and day out it's the same thing: get woken up by alma's chattering, get nearly choked to death by the damned crystal, nearly burn to death by the stupid masks, collapse from exhaustion in my hole, only to be fully healed in the morning, and repeat the cycle.

I don't even know why I bother with this anymore.

It helps to have Alma and Kanda here though. Even though they don't have the extra "training", they still try to sympathize and comfort me in any way they can. We've all become each other's lifelines. I don't know how I'd be able to survive without them here. And I still have absolutely no clue in heaven how Alma stays so happy-go-lucky through it all. However, I can feel him starting to slip. It worries me, I hope he can regain some sense of humanity. If we have to go through any more training even Alma will be ready to kill somebody! Could you Imagine?

But, what's that noise? I heard some footsteps coming this way from down the corridor. They were the same clicks on the hard floor as the scientists' boots. I was proven correct as some scientists turned the corner into our sleeping room. I wonder why they were here, it's not time for training yet. Did we do something wrong?

"The council requires your presence", one of the larger scientists said in a deep throaty voice. Without any time for me to object, I was roughly picked up by my arms and hauled out into the never ending maze of hallways. After a good ten minutes of twists and turns we arrived at a council room of sorts. The silver star of the black order was high on the stone walls and a panel of black robed officials sat peering down through hooded eyes. "Shiro," the middle councilman began, "You have failed to meet our basic progress standards". A deep sense of dread started to fill me and my knees began to shake. "It has been 3 months since your arrival, and not even once has you innocence responded after your first day," the second councilman continued. My heartbeat raced and my throughout clamped up.I was nervous beyond belief, I couldn't let them take me away! Who would be there to protect Kanda and Alma? I would be able to save them from the dark matter testing if they took me away! I began to feel frantic. And all at once, the feeling was gone, replaced with startling calm.

The calm before the storm... the eve of battle.

...

"that's only what I've led you to believe , Mr. councilman"

"What! What are you blabbering about boy?" the councilman spit out, taken aback by my indifference.

**"Why don't you let me show you?"**

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HAHA! I'm evil, I know. BUT! i wanted to hear from my wonderful readers before we get into the good stuff. What do you want Ichigo(shiro)'s innocence to be?

I have a few ideas but i want to see how you guys think the story should go! No suggestion is too extreme. Leave your suggestion in a review or private message, and don't forget that if you don't tell me, I can't put your desires into concideration.

Until next time,

ME


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